Enhancing Humanitarian Practice
Through greater knowledge and understanding
“Unravelling humanitarian concepts - From divergent meanings to a common understanding?”
The humanitarian sector faces one particular challenge among others: although practitioners and scholars acknowledge that humanitarians share a common set of principles, values and concepts, the definition and uses of such terms is by no means consensual. “Resilience ”, “Humanity”, “Protection”: these central concepts in humanitarian action refer to a range of meanings and associated practices, depending on the geographical, organizational, but also disciplinary background of the people using them.
Hence, in an expanding and ever more diverse sector, understanding each other in humanitarian contexts has become particularly important. The Humanitarian Encyclopedia intends to collectively interrogate how humanitarian concepts are used across time, geographical contexts, organizational cultures, disciplinary backgrounds and professions.
After an intensive preparatory phase, the project develops over a 5-year project period from July 2017 to June 2022, bringing together a growing community. All results will be shared and discussed on an interactive online repository of knowledge. Make the Humanitarian Encyclopedia yours : join a growing community!
